credit: liv averett / target
Copy this link to share with your friends!
https://sporked.com/article/dolly-parton-frozen-meals-review/
Earlier this year, I covered the news that Dolly Parton was getting into the bachelor meal single-serving frozen entree game. Lucky for all of us, I found these in-store last week and elected to eat them in lieu of actual breakfasts so I can review the whole lineup of Dolly Parton frozen meals for you good people. Let’s find out whether Dolly truly can do anything.
- Dolly Parton’s Chicken & Dumplings
-
Pros: The chicken is surprisingly flavorful (miles better than the Hot Pocket chicken I was subjected to recently) and the gravy is actually seasoned. That feels like a bare minimum factor, but I have eaten so many bland freezer meals that it’s worth mentioning.
Cons: The dumplings are a little rubbery, which feels unavoidable for a microwavable meal, so I can’t fault them too much. The carrots have that quintessential “didn’t actually soak in the gravy” problem. It feels silly to say that I don’t like how much these carrots taste like carrots, but real ones know that properly stewed carrots sacrifice their natural flavor to the glory of gravy/broth/etc.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Dolly Parton’s Beef Pot Roast
-
Pros: Much like the Chicken and Dumplings, I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor of the protein in this meal. This is the only frozen pot roast I’ve ever seen that includes skin-on potatoes. You’re not getting that from Dinty Moore, I can assure you.
Cons: While the carrots in this frozen meal did pick up more of the gravy than the ones in the Chicken and Dumplings, they still suffer from that same “added to the pot too late” taste and texture.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Dolly Parton’s Country Fried Steak
-
Pros: This steak is good! While the texture isn’t exactly what you’d expect (read on for why), the flavor is basically where it should be. The bacon-y mashed potatoes are very reminiscent of the reality of actual mashed potatoes collecting sauce and crumbs from any entree nearby.
Cons: Flipping the steak halfway through cooking as directed results in most of the breading sloughing off both sides of the meat, which means it gets stirred in with the bed of mashed potatoes it’s placed upon. Does it taste bad? No! Does the conglomeration end up a confusing mess that looks nothing like country fried steak? Unfortunately. Also, the green beans are so bad, I’m bringing this entire meal down a point. The little specks of bacon scattered around don’t help.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Dolly Parton’s Shrimp & Grits
-
Pros: I’m not qualified to judge shrimp and grits, but my partner—who’s spent some time in New Orleans—signed off on this as “surprisingly flavorful!” The tomatoes held their structure after over five minutes in the microwave, and there was more shrimp than either of us expected in a frozen meal. At minimum, this gets points for being the only frozen shrimp and grits I’ve ever seen in a grocery store.
Cons: The box describes the sauce as spicy when it actually tops out at just above mild. Not the end of the world, but worth mentioning.
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
Copy this link to share with your friends!
https://sporked.com/article/dolly-parton-frozen-meals-review/
About the Author
Griffin Parker is a writer, "influencer", and extraordinarily busy person based in Columbus, Ohio. He's sacrificed countless hours in the pursuit of ranking Lindt Lindor truffles, HI-CHEW candies, and more. When he's not writing for Sporked or running @SodaSeekers, you can find Griffin espousing the virtues of Dayton-style pizza, Cincinnati-style chili, and Dolly Parton's Fabulously Double Fudge Brownie Mix.
Griffin Parker
Justine Sterling
Jon Gutierrez
Luke Field
Loved the Shrimp and grits the most of all frozen meals.Hsve it 4 times a week.Love Love Peach cobbler great homey recipe . Yummy yummy yummy!!!!! 😋
My husband and I agree that Dolly needs to stay with singing and forget about frozen dinners. The Beef Pot Roast had tasty vegetables but the mean was tough and some pieces were unchewable. Don’t think we’ll try any other of Dolly’s dinners.
I tried the beef stew and I agree that it was actually inedible !The beef was very chewy and had a lot of fat and gristle which is gross. I won’t try the others meals. Don’t dismay, I still love Dolly!
I really like Dolly Parton but these frozen meals are as close to inedible as you can get. I’ve now tried the country fried steak, chicken and dumplings and the beef pot roast. If I’ve had worse frozen meals but I honestly can’t remember when. I completely agree with whoever said these will ruin Dolly’s good name. Whatever those little chunks of rubberized stuff are in the chicken and dumplings is a mystery. They certainly can’t be described as dumplings. Won’t buy these ever again. Don’t waste your money.
Tried the pot roast last night! The best of all of the frozen dinners that I have had. My daughter usually doesn’t eat beef but ate this.
I just want to say your meals are the best in the world. I was standing in line at the pharmacy. A lady said for her son to go grab a couple meals, frozen, in conversation I told her about Dolly‘s frozen meals how great they were my son loved the shrimp and grits, her son came back. She left and came back with five of your meals. It is all the honest truth.
They are horrible! Would not eat again.
As for Dolly Partons tv dinners chicken and dumplings and roast beef they should tossed in the garbage i have been eating frozen dinners for 10 years always trying something different these 2 are nasty
I tried the Chicken & Dumplings and I was very happy I did I loved it. I haven’t had chicken and dumplings since I was a teen living at home in the 1970’s. I will buy more
I just had the Chicken and Dumplings… I had so hoped as someone that was my mothers Idol growing up that she wouldnt have sold out…I dont think this is her fault actually, but Conagra cutting corners. Dolly this Deal is going to ruin your name.
Just tried to eat Dolly Partons beef pot roast – emphasize tried to eat! Beef chewy, potatoes and carrots – some overcooked some undercooked, the onions pieces were like chewing slime! Gravy was tasteless! Now let’s talk about the size of the portion in the bowl, try half a bowl. I had a bowl of cereal, that was better than the $4.00 waste of money. Too make it worse I have 2 others in the freezer!
Worst tv dinners I’ve ever had. Yuk. Don’t waste your money!
I just tried Dolly Partons beef stew dinner and her shrimp and grits. While there was plenty of meat in the pot roast it was mostly cooked carrots with very few other vegetables. The flavor was not that good either. Definitely the Dolly kitchen needs to improve on this dinner. The portions, however, were fine. As for the shrimp and grits, there were six small shrimp and a very pasty grits. I live in Shrimp and Grits area so I KNOW what a good dinner that can be. Overall I was very disappointed and think that these meals need to be tweaked a bit for better flavor. I might try the chicken in dumplings but since I make a great chicken and noodle and chicken and potato dumpling I suspect I will be disappointed. All in all the price for the DP dinners is a little too high for the quality of taste. I wouldn’t recommend it at this time or at least take Dolly Parton’s name off the product. She’s too great a person to have her name associated with a mediocre product.
I love pot roast and i love Dolly and when i saw the frozen pot roast in the food store i bought it and had it for dinner that night. I was disapointed because the meat was so tough , they don’t know how to make pot roast, it is suppose to fall apart and be able
to shred with a fork and they don’t gook the carrots enough they were hard and not enough potatoes…gravy was tasty
Having tried a few of these recently, I think the carrots are being judged a little too harshly. I was actually really surprised that they still have a decent crunch in a frozen meal and they add a nice texture. Maybe that’s not what you expect in a stew, but for a frozen meal it’s a nice change from all the mush you usually get.
I also really liked the gravy in the pot roast one. You could immediately smell something different about it, and looking at the ingredients list it apparently has some whiskey and chardonnay in it. It’s a nice addition to the sauce and the kind of thing you might do at home but you don’t typically see in a frozen meal, unless it’s specifically marketed as having a bourbon glaze or something. Really enjoyed it!
The worst frozen meals I have ever tried. Threw both of them in the garbage.
Do not buy these meals! You will pay for it the next day! The absolute worst BM smells you will ever encounter! There is some same ingredient in each meal that causes such a horrendous BM smell. These dinners are not the best. I’ve tried 2–the pot roast and the chicken dumplings. The shrimp and grits are still in my freezer but I think that is going out with the trash. I have never smelled anything so foul when going to BR. Just hope you don’t die with these horrible dinners in your system.
I was extremely excited about these meals..Thinking to self, they can’t be bad, Dolly’s name is on them. Good ole country food…sadly, I was totally disappointed..The dumplings were a step up from chewing on a piece of leather…the chicken tasted so imitation, and the gravy was like licking the inside of a gravy packet…and I bought two. Very disappointed 🤨
I’m surprised by your review of the chicken fried steak, my bacon, green beans and mashed potatoes were delicious, but the chicken fried steak was pure gristle, I couldn’t eat any of the meat.
Hard to believe that’s all you have to say about the beef pot roast. I compared the picture of the bowl, overflowing with food, to the actual product, which wasn’t even half full. The beef, went cooked to the temperature suggested, is tough..
I grew up in the south and moved to the west coast a while back, so i was excited to try these. I just had the chicken and dumplings and I’m pleasantly surprised . Like you said, the dumplings are a little tough, but idk if that’s avoidable in a premade dumpling. The real thing takes hours to make, so i willing to sacrifice for the convenience. I actually liked that the carrots taste very fresh.
I grew up in the south and moved to the west coast a while back, so i was excited to try these. I just had the chicken and dumplings and I’m pleasantly surprised . Like you said, the dumplings are a little tough, but idk if that’s avoidable in a premade dumpling. The real thing takes hours to make, so i willing to sacrifice for the convenience. I actually liked that the carrots taste very fresh.
How did you think the “Country Fried Steak” had chicken in it? Any credibility you might have had went out the window for repeatedly referring to this entree as chicken.
Even if the product was “Chicken Fried Steak”, which is a different dish than “Country Fried Steak” it still does not contain any chicken.
I suggest having a proofreader to review any future articles, assuming you get the chance to publish anything again after this disaster.
The country fried steak is not chicken. It is beef.
As a long time Batchelor…put them on cardboard,…I’d probably eat them…
In the south, spiciness does not mean extremely hot from peppers, it mearly means flavorful!! And country fried steak is not chicken. Its beef!
The chicken fried steak is a beef patty, which others have already mentioned. Your review says,”Flipping the steak halfway through cooking as directed results in most of the breading sloughing off both sides of the chicken, which means it gets stirred in with the bed of mashed potatoes it’s placed upon.” The product directions say to ROTATE the patty . . . not flip. You did not follow the directions.
Chicken fried steak isn’t chicken, just as Chicken of the Sea isn’t chicken either. Are you sure you aren’t related to Jessica Simpson?
Chicken fried steak is Not chicken. It s beef.
Yea Bruce, Who writes this junk? Someone who’s idea of Cuisine is a hot pocket with Hot Sauce from a plastic packet on it. Lol
I tried the decadent chocolate pie and was very disappointed …especially at that price